Chapter 2

"Lucas, why the hell are you walking around with that look on your face?"

A hand with dark red nails hooked under my chin and tilted it up.

I met her eyes. The sting behind mine threatened to break through, but I forced it back down.

Serena paused for just a moment.

Then a thin, mocking smile curled at the corner of her mouth.

"Oh, playing victim again? You think you're still that precious little heir everyone used to fawn over?"

I said nothing and turned my face away.

Serena let out a cold laugh and wrenched my face back toward her.

"Drop the tough-guy act. Don't think I don't know what you've been up to with those men. I've seen the photos."

The words landed with a sick kind of pleasure behind them.

My whole body went rigid.

Photos? What photos?

Serena unlocked her phone and held up the screen.

There I was --- dazed, barely conscious, surrounded by a group of men.

The memory of those three days came rushing back like a wave of filth.

I clenched my fist until my nails bit into my palm.

Serena grabbed my collar and let her eyes drag slowly over me.

"Funny thing, Lucas. All those years with me, you acted like you couldn't be bothered. But with them, you couldn't wait."

Disgust flickered across her face. She raised her hand and cracked it across my cheek.

The sting bloomed instantly, sharp and hot.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

"Miss Caldwell, Mr. White is here."

The butler's voice cut through the room.

One second ago Serena's face was full of fury. The next, she softened completely, like someone had smoothed out every hard edge.

She let go of me and turned to head downstairs.

A cheerful male voice floated up from the entryway.

"Serena, I missed you so much. You promised to take me somewhere good yesterday. How could you forget? I had to come all the way here myself."

Through the gap in the railing, I watched Serena's expression shift into something warm and indulgent.

There was a time she used to look at me that way.

That time was long gone.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Want me to take you now?"

Ryan White laughed softly.

"No way. I want to eat here. I heard you've got a live-in servant who's been around for three years and actually cooks pretty well. Why don't we have him make us something?"

Ryan's gaze cut straight through the railing and landed on me, taking in every bit of the mess I was.

Everyone in New York knew I was Serena's ex --- the one she kept locked up in her house just to have someone to punish.

This was nothing more than Ryan planting his flag. Showing me who had the power here.

Sure enough, Serena agreed without a second thought.